Below the Surface
by waterdragon719
Summary: After the events of the 2005 tsunami, the team have split and now have a new set of problems to face. Theres old faces, new faces, and some faces we believed we'd never see again...only time will tell what happens next.
1. Prologue

Okay, I was going to leave this for another week or two until I had a few chapters done, but I got too impatient. So, everybody, let's say hi to the sequel to As Time Goes By...Below the Surface!

:much clapping and cheering:

I'll leave these tow up for a while, review if you think it's worth going on...and as always enjoy! I write only for your entertainment! Warning: You will need to read As Time Goes by before this one, otherwise it will make no sense whatsoever as the story goes on. Sorry :S

Disclaimer: I do not own Surface or any of it's characters, no matter how much voodoo magic I perform.

**

* * *

Sumerall, New Iberia, Louisiana.**

The bathroom was bright, incredibly bright, covered by the light from a single globe in the corner. Underneath it was a sink and a mirror, beside the sink a pink bathtub and detachable shower head. All around the room was pink flowery wallpaper and the entire place smelled of roses. It all seemed rather familiar…but these details were not important to the man at the current time.

He stood in front of the mirror. He was tall and incredibly skinny with long-ish black hair that curled around his face. His name was Matthew. Or, at least, he thought his name was Matthew. He was a bit hazy on the precise details. The only things that seemed particularly important to him at that moment were the dark red, evil slitted eyes staring back at him from the mirror.

His eyes.

"Are you done yet?" he asked the reflection. When he received no answer, he brought his fist down onto the sink and caused the edge of it to break off and shatter onto the floor.

"_Are you done yet?_" he screamed at his reflection. Above him a light flickered, but he paid no attention.

"_Have you finished with me?!_" he pointed to his reflection. "Am I your monster yet?" he laughed, a laugh that echoed manically around the bathroom. "Am I alive or dead?"

Suddenly there was a sharp pain in his back and he collapsed onto the floor screaming in agony. Something cracked but he couldn't tell what, and an icy feeling crept along his shoulder blades.

"There's no point." He murmured after the pain had subsided a little. "No point…I already turned them away. There's no-one left to k-" he screamed again as another bolt of pain hit his chest and he dug his fingers into the floor until they began to bleed.

"It was all you're fault Granger…" he muttered feverishly. "You and the boy…wouldn't leave us alone…Kessler wanted it to work and then you changed his mind…now we have to…argh!" he jolted upright again as something erupted behind his neck. The lights were flickering everywhere now and sparks were beginning to shower from the power socket in the corner. The pain began to cloud his eyes, he couldn't see anything but red. Lots of red…blood. Blood everywhere. His blood? He couldn't tell. For some reason, he began to laugh.

"When the stars threw down their spears…" he muttered. "And water'd heaven with their tears, did he smile his work to see, did he who made the lamb make thee…?"

The globe in the bathroom light finally blew and the house went dark. Matthew, still fighting the burning pain in his body, slumped up beside the bath tub and turned the hot water tap on full blast. He hoisted himself up and crawled into the water, not noticing as the house filled with steam and water began to overflow. He began sinking under the water, murmuring to himself as he went down…

"Tiger, tiger, burning bright, in the forests of the night, what immortal hand or eye dare frame thy fearful symmetry…"

And then there was nothing. Nothing but the darkness and the faint screaming that seemed to echo long into the night…


	2. Resurface

_Ring!_

"Rich?"

"Hmmm?"

_Ring!_

"Rich?"

"Yeah Tracey?"

_Ring!_

"I think you'd better get that Rich."

Rich groaned and rolled over, still half asleep, to face his wife.

"Tracey." He moaned, slightly slurring his words. "It's three 'o' clock in the morning. Who the hell would want to call me at this hour?"

"Exactly what I was about to ask." Tracey replied in much the same tone. "Why don't you go and find out?"

Rich didn't move. His wife glared at him pointedly and then nodded her head in the general direction of the ringing.

"Fine." Rich groaned, pulling back the covers and rolling out of the bed. Growling incoherently, he staggered into the kitchen, where the phone was sitting on top of the bench ringing rather loudly. Rich cringed as each ring pierced his ears and confused his sleepy brain. He reached for the handset and pulled it off the cradle.

"Hello?" he grumbled, running his fingers through his hair in irritation.

"Rich!" came a voice on the other end of the phone. It was deep, but at the same time seemed to hold an air of chirpy-ness that annoyed Rich to no extent.

"Xavier…" he groaned. "Why are you calling me now? It's three in the morning. Some people actually need to sleep y'know. Good for the body."

The man on the other end laughed. "I thought you'd say that. You knew it was coming Rich; when you signed up for the police force you should have expected this stuff."

Rich rolled his eyes. "What do you need me for?" he asked, opening the fridge door and pulling out a carton of milk. He reached up into a cabinet above him and also pulled out a tin of instant coffee.

"Jamie is off with the flu and Damien's wife is about to have a baby." Xavier explained quickly, picking up on his friend's irritated no-bones-about-it tone. He'd long since learned not to muck around with his colleague when he was in this mood.

"Good for him." Grumbled Rich, turning the kettle on.

"Don't be like that. You had to do it once." Xavier continued. "Anyway, we need you to come out to Sumerall. Domestic disturbance, some people reported screaming from the house at about eleven last night. No ambulances were called, but the neighbour seemed quite distressed. Rambled on about how that family has been screaming at each for weeks now, and two nights ago a woman and a couple of kids got in the car and left."

"Hmm." Rich mumbled thoughtfully as the kettle finished boiling and he poured the hot water into the mug. "I'll be down in a bit. Let me wake up first."

"Sure thing." Xavier replied. Rich could see him smirking on the other end on the line. "Here's the address…"

"Wait a sec." Rich interrupted, reaching for a pen and paper. He quickly jotted down the address Xavier gave him and then hung up, reached for his coffee and took a sip.

He'd been on the police force for all of a year now. It was a good job; he'd already been in car chases, caught all sorts of dirty criminals, rescued cats out of trees…but he hated those days when they made him get up early for something as small as a 'domestic disturbance'. Compared to all the stuff that had happened to him in previous years, this job seemed rather boring…

Rich paused mid-sip, and put the cup down. This time less than two years ago, he had been out chasing a new species of marine vertebrate…almost getting killed several times in the process. That was the year of the tsunami which rocked the world a million times over. Hundreds of people died…and then there was the explosion of the Iderdex factory, which was on the news stations for months on end.

But no-one except himself knew exactly how tied Rich Connolly was to those events. See, it was he who was stranded on the church rooftop after the tsunami with Miles Barnett, Laura Daughtery and Caitlin Blume. It was them who managed to save the creatures and the human race, it was them who blew up the Iderdex factory and prevented the near extinction of the human race. It was them who saved the world and no-one but they will ever know about it.

He lost his brother that year.

"Who was that?" Tracey's quiet voice floated down the hallway, shattering Rich's daydream and forcing him back into reality.

"Uh…Xavier." Rich replied. "I gotta go out to Sumerall for a bit…I'll be back as soon as I can."

There was silence from the other room.

"One word." Rich assured her. "And I can call back and say no."

"No, that's alright." Tracey said, if a tad hesitantly. "Just don't wander off okay? And call me when you're coming home."

Rich knew what she meant by 'wander off', but he didn't bother trying to argue. She had every right to be a bit concerned…the last time he had 'wandered off' he hadn't come back for months and had almost drowned, been blown up and been torn to bits by mutant sea creatures. Most people would worry _just_ a little.

"I'll be alright." He reassured her. "It's just a domestic disturbance. Nothing interesting."

* * *

When Xavier had said that it had been a domestic disturbance, Rich expected to come by and have to deal with a sobbing husband who had had a bit too much to drink and had maybe hit his head. But the scene before him was more than your average domestic disturbance.

He was standing in a bathroom. A bright pink bathroom. Or, at least, it had been bright pink. Now the walls and the floor were splattered with blood. In the midst of all this was a large bathtub, which was filled with foggy red water. Underneath the water was the clear silhouette of a man, lying at the bottom of the bathtub, not breathing.

"What the hell is this?" Xavier asked beside him, voicing Rich's thoughts out loud. Rich frowned.

"I don't have a clue." He said. "Call the ambulance now."

Xavier was already pulling out his cell phone and dialling 911. Rich carefully tiptoed over to the bath while Xavier was explaining the situation, and he stared through the water to see if he could get a better look at the man. It was a bit foggy, but he could still see the man's outline and most of his face.

"It's weird." Rich voiced aloud. Xavier shut his phone and frowned at him.

"The ambulance is coming now. Should be a few minutes give or take traffic." He said. "What's weird?"

"There are signs of struggle alright…but this guy doesn't seem to have actually _died_ struggling." Rich explained. "Look at him."

Xavier peered over and flinched.

"He looks dead to me."

"Yeah, but he looks calm." Rich pointed at his face. "Look, it's almost like he's smiling. If this was a sudden death he wouldn't look like that."

"And you'd know this…how?" Xavier asked curiously.

"Past experience." Rich replied automatically. Xavier bit his lip.

"Oh…right. Sorry." He apologised. Practically everyone at the station knew about Rich's history with death, and they avoided mentioning George around him in case he turned to one of his old 'episodes'. But Rich just shrugged.

"Its okay man." He said. "It's been almost two years. I'm over it now."

He turned his attention back to the man. "But look, you don't just die like that. It's almost like he drowned himself…"

"Suicide?" Xavier questioned. "Wouldn't he have done something a little more traditional? Swallowed dishwashing liquid, stabbed himself, something a bit…quicker?"

Rich leaned closer to the water and wrinkled his nose in disgust. He cocked his head, studying the face intently.

"No idea _why_ he did it." He said after a minute. "I'm just saying…this wasn't an accident."

He was about to withdraw when he thought he saw something near the man's neck. He froze and bent down a little closer.

"I'm just going down to wait for the ambulance." Xavier commented behind him. "Gives me the creeps in here…coming?"

"One sec."

Yep, something was definitely there. Rich waited until he heard Xavier's footsteps disappear down the corridor, and then he wrapped his hand in his sleeve to avoid leaving fingerprints, counted to three and plunged his hand into the water, cupping his hand under the head and then pulling it up. He was messing with the evidence, he knew…but his curiosity had gotten the better of him. Once the head was out of the water, he took a deep breath and had a look.

There were three faint scars, on both side of his neck. They were very, very small, and anyone else would have discarded them instantly. But Rich knew a bit more than anyone else. He used the edge of his jacket to curl the man's lip up, and noticed that his teeth seemed a little…pointy. As an extra precaution, he lifted the man a little higher and ran a finger down the spine. There was something wrong about it…it was really bumpy. Bumpier than a normal spine at any rate.

Rich carefully lowered the man back into the water, and then quickly took his jacket off in an attempt to hide the blood stains on the sleeves and cover up what he had been doing…a very bad attempt admittedly, but what else could he do? He also washed his hands to get rid of any chance of catching a disease. Not _all_ that Occupational Health and Safety training was going to go down the drain.

He ran downstairs when the sirens began to sound not too far away, and joined Xavier by the door. But his mind was on other things.

Those weird abnormalities were awfully familiar. He had to tell someone…

* * *

Jesse was not in a happy mood.

"But I don't wanna go to school today." The boy wailed. "I want to stay home with you."

Laura Daughtery took a very, very deep breath and counted to ten, trying to manage her temper. It didn't help that she was driving on a busy road at eight thirty in the morning.

"You have to go to school." She said firmly. "And that is _final_. No!" she protested, putting her hand up when Jesse tried to open his mouth. "No excuses! Mommy has to work today, and Mommy _can't_ work with you around…"

She quickly slowed down as they entered a school zone.

"I promise I'll be good!" Jesse argued as Laura pulled into the car park and cut the engine. "I want to go help you at the school! Please Mom…"

Laura shook her head and laughed. "_Goodbye_ Jesse. I'll see you tonight alright?"

Jesse made a face in the back seat and quickly scrambled out of the car. He poked his tongue out at Laura as she turned the keys in the ignition, once again starting the engine and then pulling out of the car park and onto the main road. Laura glanced in the rear view mirror and watched him enter the school gate, and then finally turned her attention back to the road.

She never realised until now how great it was taking her son to school. The arguing, the bargaining, the waiting at the school gate…it was bliss. Compared to not seeing him at all…compared to last year when she was being chased by a secret government firm who wanted her dead.

She still hadn't quite gotten over that…in the middle of the night she would wake up imagining she had heard someone inside the house, only to find it was a tree branch tapping the window or Jesse tossing in his bed. Sometimes she had nightmares filled with strange creatures, explosions, the tsunami…but then in the morning she'd look around and smile because she knew it was over. Life was back to normal, and she was now working. Running her own diving school…could you believe it? She never imagined being a teacher, not in a million years…and yet here she was. Amazing what a year could do to you…

Before she knew it, she'd pulled up outside a small blue building on the edge of a beach. It was a small shack really; it had been cheap when Laura bought it, but now it looked like a million dollars. Emblazoned on the door was a sign advertising the name of her diving school. "The Big Blue." Circled by a picture of a dolphin. Painted it herself she had, and she still felt proud every time she looked up at it. Beat working as a waitress any day.

She hopped out of the car, ran across the car park and hurriedly pushed the door open. The inside of the building looked as spectacular as the outside…several displays of diving gear for sale were set up n neat little shelves set around the room, and in the corner were change rooms and a back door that lead to a pier which extended into the diving area. There was even a little reception desk. A little bell tinkled as she entered, and someone glanced up from that very desk.

"You're late." Jackson stated, amusement written all over his face. "Tut tut, late for your own lessons." Laura ignored him, reaching over the reception desk to grab the wetsuit folded neatly on top of the desk and then jumping into the change rooms.

"Don't start with me." Laura warned him behind the door. "Where's April?"

Jackson frowned at the closed change room door. "She called in sick." He explained. "Asked me to fill in for her."

"Where'd she get your number?" Laura asked, teasing but still sounding a little indignant. Jackson blushed furiously.

"She found the emergency numbers in the draw." He said, pointing to it as proof and then realising she couldn't actually see it. He crossed his arms instead, and was almost beheaded by a pair of bright blue jeans that flew over the changing room door. He caught them in mid air and then wrinkled his nose as memories as the last time he had been holding her pants entered his mind…

"Sorry!" Laura called, saving him from his dirty thoughts. "I'm just having…a bit of…trouble…there we go!"

There was a brief pause, and then Laura burst out of the change room in a very clingy navy blue wetsuit with a bright yellow stripe down the side. Jackson stared at her for a second, until he realised she was staring at him as well.

"So?" she asked, turning, "Do I look decent?"

_You look __gorgeous. _Jackson thought, but instead he said. "Fine. You look fine."

"Good." Laura nodded. "Could you help me zip it up?" she pointed to the zip on her back and Jackson obliged…if a tad hesitantly. If Laura sensed something as he slowly drew the zip up her back, she was extremely good at not showing it.

"So remind me, who am I seeing today?" she asked, reaching into a cupboard for a pair of goggles. Jackson, relieved, rushed behind the desk and glanced at the computer.

"Beginners class for a group of school kids. Oh, and Rich called before I got here. Left a message asking you to call him, says it's important."

Laura paused, hand halfway into the cabinet. Rich had called? Now that was someone she hadn't spoken to in a while. She, Miles and Rich hadn't talked or seen each other for months now…everything had been so busy after Iderdex, and then the diving school had opened and he'd joined the police force, then Miles had schoolwork, then something else always cropped up. They just never seemed to get a spare moment together…so slowly but surely they went out of touch. She had been meaning to call, but until now hadn't given it a second thought.

"Important?" she asked, a little dazed. "How important?"

Jackson shrugged. "Don't know. Didn't say anything else. Just to call him when you've got time to spare."

Laura nodded. "Right. Okay. Shall do."

As Laura grabbed her gear and set out at a brisk pace across the pier where her class was waiting, she wondered what could be so important that he had to call her.

Oh well. Best worry about that another time.

* * *

Miles lazily opened his eyes. He blinked a few times at the sunlight that streamed into the room, and then he sunk a little deeper into the covers.

_Morning._ He thought to himself sleepily. Then he glanced at the clock on his bedside table and jumped. The numbers 9:00 were glaring at him on the screen. Shoot. He was supposed to be meeting Caitlin at the aquarium today, and promised he'd be there at eight thirty…half an hour ago.

"Crap!" he cried. He must have slept through the alarm…bloody hell; Caitlin was going to shoot him.

He quickly leaped out of bed and searched through the piles of clothes in his bedroom for a decent pair of jeans and a T-Shirt. It took him about another fifteen minutes to grab them, and then he rushed into the shower. Another ten minutes later, he rushed down stairs and grabbed a piece of toast out of the toaster.

"Hey!" came his father's voice as he rushed through the kitchen. "That was my breakfast!"

"Sorry Dad!" Miles shouted. "Got to go Dad! Slept through the alarm!"

His father rolled his eyes, but before he had time to retort Miles had shut the door behind him and was now heading towards the scooter parked in the driveway. Un-chaining it from the post by the fence, he pushed the helmet firmly onto his head and revved the bike into life, then quickly sped out of the driveway and onto the road.

This whole scooter thing was new to him, but he travelled with perfect ease across the fairly busy road. He still hadn't got his P-plates yet, so he couldn't drive, and he wasn't sure whether he wanted to. Scooters were faster, smaller, more agile. Cars were big and heavy. Not to mention he still held a slight resentment to the time he had once stolen a car. True, it was to help Nimrod escape death, but it didn't mean he enjoyed his community service picking up rubbish by the road any more than before.

Yep, Miles wasn't only a freaky mutant, he was a real crim. It was amusing when he thought of it that way. Even though the public only knew about one half of the statement…but who really paid attention to that anymore?

Two years. It had been two years since the Great Tank Flood of 2005 that first brought Nimrod into his life. Two years since he was bitten by the creatures and then healed by Nimrod, gaining super cool powers in the process. Two years since the tsunami that submerged the world under miles and miles of water, two years since he had become one of the creatures and almost been lost to humanity, two years since Iderdex was blown up…when he looked back on it, he wondered how the hell his fourteen-year-old self could have managed that. Two years was a very long time…now he was sixteen and plenty of things had changed. For better or worse he could not exactly determine, but he was happy with his life for the moment. He still got to visit Nimrod at the beach every so often, he had a girlfriend whom he loved, his marks at school were steady…he was on a roll.

He also almost missed the turn off, but he managed to pull into the North Carolina aquarium car park in one piece. He pulled off his gear, jumped off the bike and had only taken one step before a shadow cast itself in front of him. He looked up.

"You're late." Caitlin stated, annoyed. Miles grinned sheepishly.

"Sorry about that." He apologised, standing up straight and leaning over to kiss his girlfriend on the cheek. Her stern glare quickly turned to a wide grin and she kissed him back, attracting a few whistles from passers-by. The couple ignored them until they retracted, grinning widely.

"You're forgiven for now." She teased as only Caitlin could. "But I think you'd better come in. Dad's wondering where you are."

Miles frowned. "Is that why you wanted to see me?"

Caitlin cocked her head at him and rolled her eyes. "No…but he wants to keep you as far away from me as possible. Makes up all these excuses…Miles has got to come clean the tanks, Miles has got to feed the stingrays, Miles can't have extended lunch break because he has to move the sea snakes…blah de blah de blah. Parents are _so_ paranoid sometimes."

Miles nodded. While his parents had revoked the 'doors are open when girls are over' rule a while after Savannah had moved out, they were still extremely paranoid that their little son would get up to dirty business behind the laundry door. Considering the thought still made Miles blush slightly (ever the gentleman he was) their fears were quite unreasonable.

"So what does he want me for?" Miles asked. "It's the weekend, and I'm dropping in on Monday anyway. Anything I can't do Jared can do for me."

Caitlin shook her head. "I don't know. Why don't you come and find out." She grabbed his left hand in hers and tugged, urging him to follow her into the aquarium. He did without hesitation. Right outside the aquarium door there was a group of tourists who were sitting on the footpath, grumpy looks on their faces and fierce glares as they stared at the dark corridor inside. A girl, definitely American, was leaning against the wall. She had a look of boredom written all across her face, but glanced at Miles hopefully as soon as she laid eyes on the keys in Caitlin's hands.

"Why are they all standing out here?" Miles asked as one of the tourists asked his friend something in Japanese. "We're usually open at nine."

"I don't know." Caitlin replied, although this time Miles could have sworn he caught a hint of something in her voice. Was it a hint of smugness, that she knew something he didn't?

Once inside, they walked down the corridor, turned the corner…and Miles was attacked by a large, blundering shape that appeared out of no-where and tackled him to the ground. He went down with a yelp, and the impact seemed to shatter his body into a million pieces…at least for a minute or two. He flinched as whatever had attacked him came into view, and he desperately tried to adjust his eyes to the darkness and clear his head of its post-impact fogginess.

"What the hell…?" he started to speak, but then he felt something slimy, wet and rough nuzzle itself against his cheek. An intense rush of happiness rushed through his mind, and he smiled widely and looked up into a pair of green, slitted eyes.

"Hey Nim!" He greeted his lizard friend, reaching a hand up to pat him on the head. Nimrod gave a deep grumble of his own and crawled off Miles so he could stand up.

Since Miles had first met him, Nimrod had grown. A lot. He was now as big as he was, if you didn't count the massive tail. It was amazing; in a way…it was a lot more noticeable than Miles' growth spurt in recent months.

Miles grinned. It was weird how much he and Nim shared. And to think he had once referred to him as a pet…now he was his own flesh and blood. The brother he never had…and never had time to visit either.

"Geez Nim…" Miles laughed, brushing himself off. "You've defiantly grown a bit…next time just say hi, okay?"

Nim turned his head up proudly and gave a squawk of delight…although, now it sounded more like a deep throaty growl. Caitlin giggled beside him. Although she didn't share the bond as deeply as he and Miles, she still got the general gist of most of their conversations. Or whatever you had with ESP.

"Miles!" came another voice. Miles turned quickly, ever alert, but instantly calmed when the familiar face of Caitlin's father.

"Dr. Blume." He said. "How are you?"

Dr. Blume nodded politely. "Good thanks Miles…see you've already caught up with Nimrod."

Miles nodded. "Is that why you wanted me here?"

He shook his head. "No…Nimrod only turned up ten minutes ago. Scared the hell out of the people outside, I can tell you that. I've got the aquarium closed for another reason."

Another figure stepped out of the shadows. This one was slightly thinner but about the same height, and as soon as the light shone off their blonde hair Miles could tell who it was.

"Samantha!" he cried as the woman finally revealed herself. She smiled at him brightly.

"Hey kid!" she replied, rushing over. "How have you been?"

"Great thanks!" Miles answered enthusiastically. "I haven't seen you in a while…how is Kathryn?"

Samantha laughed. "Destroying the place, as usual. She turned two last week. Had a little party that left the entire house in a shambles…but anyway."

Suddenly, her face grew a lot more serious. She stared at Miles for a second, and then cleared her throat a little.

"I need your help." She began cautiously. "With Lee."

Miles and Caitlin exchanged glances. Davis Lee had previously worked for Iderdex; until he found out he was in fact a clone. He had helped them destroy Iderdex, but in the process he had been captured and experimented on by the scientists. For two years, he had been the secret to Guideline pharmaceuticals success while the others tried to look for a cure for him.

"What's wrong with him?" Miles wondered. Nimrod gave a little growl beside him, and Samantha merely looked at the ground. Her next words sounded choked.

"He's sick." She explained. "I don't know how it happened. He has been absolutely fine from what I could tell, but I came into the lab yesterday morning and he…" she paused and gulped. "He tried to attack me. I tried to talk to him but he didn't respond, and then he just went crazy and started to destroy everything…in the end I sedated him, but he still didn't stop thrashing around. I needed somewhere to bring him while I sorted out the place, so I brought him here. I thought you might be able to help because…" she glanced at Nimrod briefly, and Miles got the hint.

"Because I _used_ to have their powers." He finished. He almost said 'have their powers', but stopped himself at the last minute. What people didn't know wouldn't hurt them. Samantha didn't notice anything…she merely nodded.

"You knew them better than I did." She admitted. "I've tried my best, but he's just not himself. I thought the experiments might have backfired, but I can't really examine him unless I can get close enough to take a blood sample."

Dr. Blume stepped in. "We've put him in Nim's old tank. We just need you to go to him and see if you can't tell what's wrong."

Miles nodded. "Alright. I'll see what I can do."

* * *

Five minutes later, Miles was standing outside the door to Nim's old enclosure. Samantha and Caitlin were standing beside him, worry etched over their faces. Nimrod was still by his side, curious to know what was going on, and Dr. Blume was standing in front of the door with the keys in his hands, hesitant to open the door.

"If anything happens…" he began, and then Miles stopped him.

"I'll be fine." Miles assured him. "He's behind the fence isn't he? What could he do to me?"

He knew full well what Lee could do to him, but he didn't say anything…instead he waited as Dr. Blume reluctantly unlocked the door and let him in. Miles stepped inside and the door was shut silently behind him.

The room was exactly how he remembered it. Grey walls, random boxes strewn around the place, a computer in the corner…and a huge pool with a window, surrounded by a thick wire fence. It was what was behind the fence that made him shiver.

Lying in the comparatively small pool was what looked like a very large dragon. A large, bulky frame was attached to a long and slender neck, which in turn supported an elegant pointed face with a beak-like mouth that curled slightly downward. Its claws were huge on its delicate webbed feet. A long spine extended downwards, lined with tiny spikes, to a long tail that finished with a small fin. It was so large that the head and tail were drooping over the rim of the pool, and the rest of the body was contorted at an extremely odd angle. The entire body was covered in shimmery navy blue scales, and when it looked up Miles was confronted with a pair of bright yellow eyes with pupils as thin as a needle.

This was the first time Miles had actually seen Davis Lee in person since his change. He'd seen a few pictures that Samantha had brought in, but he had mostly been confined to the lab down at Guideline. Now he just stared at him and understood why the others were a bit worried…Lee looked just as his former self had.

Deadly.

"Davis Lee?" he said hesitantly. The creature stared at him, and then Miles heard a voice in his mind.

_Hello Miles._

It sounded exactly as Samantha had described it…smooth and mesmerising, yet still retaining the same qualities of Lee himself. It was very, very spooky.

"Having a bit of trouble?" Miles asked, getting straight to the point. Lee was silent.

_You could say that._

"What's wrong?" Miles asked. "Are you sick?"

Lee shook his head. _No…maybe. I don't know. It just hurts._

Miles frowned. "What hurts?"

There was more silence. Miles felt another voice pressing into his mind…fearful images seeped into his mind as Nimrod pressed his nose against the door. Something wasn't right about Lee; something was seriously weird about him. Apart from the obvious, of course.

_I hate it. _Lee suddenly spoke. Miles moved a little closer.

"Hate what?" he asked. "Hate the tests? Do you think it was something-?"

_They almost killed me._ Lee interrupted. There was a sudden shift, something Miles felt in the air around him. He sensed it before it happened, which was just as well because if he hadn't moved at that exact moment he would have been hit by a flying piece of metal as, with lightning speed, Lee jumped out of the pool and crashed into the fence surrounding him, ripping it to pieces in his strong, razor sharp teeth.

_It was wrong!_ He screamed, and Miles felt anger radiate from him like nothing he'd ever witnessed before. And there was pain, so much hurt it made his eyes water.

_They killed everyone!_ Lee screamed again, and then he made a leap for the door. The others jumped out of the way as he crashed through the door, thrusting it open with surprising strength and sprinting out of the lab, a high pitched wail emitting from his throat. Caitlin was screaming, Nimrod was screeching in panic, Samantha and Dr. Blume were simply pale as Miles ran out of the room and followed Lee out into the main corridor.

"Lee!" he cried out.

_They killed everyone!_ Was the only answer he received. Lee had stopped by the door and was lying on the ground, twitching horribly and convulsing as Miles advanced on him, careful not to set off another attack.

"Lee!" he said, trying to sound reassuring. "Calm down! I'm not going to hurt you, alright? We need to find out what's wrong with…"

Suddenly, Lee gave another high pitched scream that made Miles ears ring and his head throb in pain…the windows on the door shattered and a nearby tank broke, flooding the floor with water and wriggling fish. Lee ignored the commotion, and he tried to make a break for it by jumping out the now shattered front door. He clipped his leg against a shattered pane of glass mid-jump, and gave another cry of pain as the glass sliced his leg. Miles tried to recover himself, but by the time he could hear again Lee had slipped out the door.

By now, the people standing outside had noticed the funny creature that had run out of the aquarium…many screamed, a couple took out cameras. The girl who had been leaning against the wall jumped in fright. Lee sprinted out into the middle of the carpark, and then he suddenly stopped in his track and began convulsing horribly…Miles was about to go out to try and help him when an ear-splitting scream emitted from his general direction. Everybody blocked their ears and several of the car windows around them shattered as Lee cried out in pain; Miles felt as if his head was about to explode. He crumpled to the floor, pain threatening to

_Help me!_ Miles reached out for Nim, begging him to appear at his side. Simultaneously, a green blur rushed past him and crashed into Lee, tackling him to the ground and immediately silencing the noise.

"Go Nim!" he heard Caitlin shout behind him. Miles groaned and rolled over, trying to get in a good position to sit up. He managed to stand up and slowly make his way across the car park, where Nimrod and Lee were currently battling it out, armed with both tooth and claw.

"Lee!" Miles cried, "Stop it! You're not like this!"

The two animals continued to fight. There was a zapping noise, and both of them jumped back, growling.

"Lee!" Miles shouted a little louder. "Look at me!"

There was a brief hesitation, and Lee gave Miles a flickering glance. That was all the time Nimrod needed to pounce, effectively biting Lee in the leg and pinning him to the ground by his tail and neck. Lee struggled wildly, but Nimrod held on, determined not to let his capture wriggle to safety.

_Leave me alone!_ Came a scream in Miles' head. _I'll kill you! Leave me alone!_

A shot was sounded, and something small punctured Lee in the shoulder. Samantha stood next to Miles, wielding a tranquiliser gun in her small hands. She didn't lower it until lee had stopped thrashing and Nimrod was free to let go of him.

"Nim?" Miles ran over to his friend, worried Lee had done worse than he had thought. But by the time he got there, Nimrod had completely healed. A satisfied feeling washed over Miles, and he tickled Nimrod down his spine to show his relief.

"Good going." He congratulated him, to which Nim replied with a sharp clicking noise. Caitlin and Samantha were both checking on Lee, and when Miles went over their faces were grim.

"He doesn't seem to be that injured." Samantha noted. "But he isn't healing." Miles leaned over, stared at the scars crossing his back and flinched.

"How come, do you think?" he asked, already trying to think of theories. Samantha shrugged, and once again leaned over to examine the wounds.

"Who knows." She replied. "But whatever it is, it's interfering with his ability to suppress emotion as well as his ability to heal. If this is infectious, it could be bad for Nim and the others."

Miles and Caitlin exchanged a worried glance. Could it be the virus had returned to haunt them? But in that case, who would have uncovered it?

They had no time to ponder on it, because the tourists who had witnessed the event were beginning to crowd around them. They had to get Lee inside, and quickly. The last thing Miles saw before he heaved Lee up into his arms was the strange girl, staring at him from her leaning spot against the wall.

* * *

You know what I'm gonna ask...review! My apologies to my beta...I couldn't wait! Next one I swear! 


	3. Reunion

I know. I haven't updated in...a little while.  
I could talk a lot about WHY but it involves lots of thing so I shan't. But I'm back now, at least until my uni assignment's start kicking me where it hurts, so I'm trying to update my fics and pray that I've improved a little bit (funnily enough, turns out I was made for writing for academic journals, not fiction .). I'll deal with canon and discrepancies when it comes to it.

Anyway, old fans, I hope you enjoy the next installment, and expect more regular ones to come!

Disclaimer: I don't own Surface, or I would not be broke right now. Darnit.

* * *

"Okay Jackson, I'm heading out!" Laura shouted from the front door. "I'll see you tomorrow!"  
Just as she was about to leave, she felt a rough hand grab her arm. Jackson turned her around and smiled.

"Aren't you forgetting something?" he said, holding out her jacket. "Your car keys are in your front pocket, genius."

"What would I do without you?" Laura grabbed the jacket and whisked it over her shoulders. "Thanks. Don't forget to lock the till, alright?"

Two seconds later and the blonde blur was out the door again. Jackson sighed and went back behind the front desk. He glanced around, checking that Laura hadn't wandered back, and then opened the till and took out the coin tray. Underneath lay a thin, plain notebook, which he pulled out and quickly skimmed over to check the pages were there. This was his diary, containing everything he remembered about his life in an attempt to piece himself together. The thoughts were scattered and vague.

_Today I saw a house, I'm sure I've seen it before. It's uncanny._

_The woman I saw on television today, she's familiar. I know her, I'm sure of it, but I don't knowher name. The boss won't let me have any contact with the surface, so I can't even Google her. She must be a famous scientist. Laura Daughtery? Who are you?_

_Tonight I had a dream. I was in bed when suddenly the lights turned on and there was a woman there. She had brown hair and she was holding a white box and she was crying. Was there bl…_

Jackson hastily skipped over that page. He remembered that dream. He'd had it a few times now, but he didn't know what it meant. He was sure he'd never met the girl before…technically, that was true. This Jackson was barely three years old. He had been cloned from the real Jackson, the rest of whose remains had long been liquefied inside the stomach of a marine vertebrate. The memories he had were his own, but they also belonged to another body who no longer existed. The identity crisis made his head spin at the best of times. It didn't help that there were still gaps in his memory, large holes in his life that he could not account for. He only knew his mother's name because he had searched a family history website until he found her death certificate. Apparently she had died during the tsunami. Jackson knew he should have been sad, but he felt somewhat detached from the whole thing, as if it wasn't his life. He didn't know where his dad was, but he didn't care to know. The memories he had of his father weren't good ones, just lots of conversations about the value of money and endless lectures about accounting. His grandfather, on the other hand, was living in New Zealand and enjoying his retirement.

His other memories were scattered. He could remember studying, he could remember some of his childhood, he could remember a few of his boat expeditions, and he remembered his birthday. He remembered enough to convince Laura that he was, indeed, Jackson, but he couldn't quite convince himself. Laura was the one he remembered the most. He chalked it down to the fact that she was the only person from his life that he saw on a regular basis, and who had helped him the most on the bad nights, but he couldn't deny that there was something else there. Whether he would ever admit it to her or not was a different matter. He was sure she didn't think about the old times as much as he did (it was one of his few vivid memories, after all), but he was also scared that, no matter how much she said that she believed he was the real Jackson, she would never accept him. He didn't quite accept himself, so why would she?

He flipped through some more pages until he found a blank one. He picked up a pen and tried to remember.

_The brown haired girl is there again. She's not holding a box, she's holding a black bag. She's not crying anymore, she's smiling. She holds out the bag and says 'look what I caught.'_

_Suddenly she's not brown anymore, she's blonde, and she's Laura. She has a towel wrapped around her and is flipping her wet hair through a comb._

"_Get up, baby." She says, smiling. "You're going to be late for the dive."_

_Water floods the room. We're in the sub and Laura is staring out the window and her reflection looks at me and she says 'I just want to be your friend'._

He remembered this. The day of their first dive. The day that Laura truly fell in love with the sea and Jackson fell in love with her. After that it's a blur of late night phone calls crying about her husband, lots of night drinking in the back of a boat, and that one week they went to the middle of nowhere and he told her that divorce didn't matter because she was too clever and beautiful to let anyone get to her. After which they spent the night together and then that was the start and end of their relationship. It may not have been his life, but it still hurt when he remembered.

He was pulled out of his reverie by the creaking of the front door. A red haired woman in a neat suit entered and gave the shop a quick once-over before making her way to the front desk. Jackson hastily shut the notebook and nodded at her.

"What can I help you with, m'am?"

"Miss." The woman corrected, glancing around again. "I'm looking for Laura Daughtery? She's the business owner, right?"

"That's right." Jackson replied. "She just left though. I can do booking for you if you like."

"Actually, I'm here on other business." She said, turning back to him. "I wanted to talk to her about her research on the _hybridas physignathus gigantis_"

"…the what, sorry?"

"Giant Dragon Hybrid" the girl said, unfazed. "I want to know about the lizards that caused the tsunami. I'm doing research on maintaining the population while repairing the ecological damage. What days are she in?"

Jackson pursed his lips. He was wary of anyone who came asking questions and knew Laura would be as well. "Come in on Wednesday and I'll make sure she is here."

"Thank you" the girl smiled. It was fairly reassuring, but Jackson didn't want to take chances. He nodded at the woman then turned to the desk.

"If that's all for today…" he started.

"No." The woman cut him off "I'll take these please." She threw a pair of scuba goggles on the bench. Jackson processed the sale in total silence. He already didn't like this woman, she was too sharp and rude.

"Have a nice day." He grumbled, handing over the change. He barely had time to wityhdraw his hand before she snatched the change and was out the door.

"Fucking women." He mumbled to himself.

* * *

By the time they had returned Lee to Guideline's labs it was already 3:00. Thank god it was the mid-year break or he would have had to explain to his parents why he had skipped school. Instead he just had to explain why he was three hours late home. Nimrod had decided to go for a swim thankfully, so hopefully he could sneak in without any lizard growls giving him away. Miles quietly wheeled his scooter into the garage, and quietly opened the front door…  
"…and where have you been?" floated his Mom's voice from the lounge room.  
Miles rolled his eyes. "Relax Mom. I just had to help Samantha out moving Lee. Nothing exploded this time."  
His mother looked up at him from the couch. "Yes, we noticed. Have you watched the news yet?"  
Miles put down his bag and moved over to the couch as his mother turned up the volume.  
"…North Carolina Aquarium today, there appears to have been a disturbance with one of the specimens. Onlookers were surprised when what was described as two 'giant iguanas' jumped out of the front doors and attacked one another before being subdued by staff."

There was a two second grainy video of the scuffle between Nimrod and Lee, before a young man was posited in front of the camera.

"I knew those lizards were going ta' be trouble." He frowned at them, "I tell ya', such an ecological disaster should not be kept in a local aquarium. We all know they caused that tsunami, why are we still treatin' em' like they're not a threat?"

Silvia looked up at Miles, "I thought that all of this was finally over, sweetheart. What's happened?"

Miles sighed. He had promised he wouldn't lie to his mother any more, but he wished he could. Her paranoia has increased tenfold after the incidents of the last couple of years, and although he may have been granted a looser reign in terms of his love and academic lives, his social life was still somewhat restricted. Understandably, he guessed, but he still didn't like having to convince his mother daily that he wasn't going to be liberating any more dangerous scientific experiments every time he went out.

"Sam is just having a little trouble with him." He explained carefully. "We think he might be sick. It's nothing to worry about Mom, Sam has it under control."

"I'm sure she does." His mother replied, her tone clearly indicating the opposite. "I'm just worried about you. I'm allowed to, as a mother."

Miles shook his head and turned away. At the same time, a creaking came from upstairs.

"Oh, you're sister is home, by the way." His mother added, just as a flurry of purple and blue rushed down the stairs.

"Miles!" Savannah shouted, jumping over to hug him tightly.

Unlike the relationship between Miles and his parents which had remained close to the same, the tsunami had brought the two siblings closer together. The threat of losing one another had been surprisingly hard on the two of them, and ever since they had tripled their efforts to get along. Savannah moving out a year later had only improved it more, as now they didn't have to put up with each other's annoying bathroom-hogging habits.

"Hey Savannah!" Miles grinned, returning the embrace "How is university going?"

"Easy." She replied "I swear, they don't even try anymore. As for the boarding house, don't get me started on the frat boys. I swear they won't let me sleep. Amber and I are ready to scratch out our eyes."

"Has she forgiven me for the dog yet?" Miles asked hopefully. Savannah loosened her grip, took a step back and put a hand on his shoulder.

"Well, not exactly." She looked at his guiltily. "Let's be honest, you did kind of scar her for life there." She paused and bit her lip, stifling a giggle. "Though I wish Nim would eat her new cat. It won't stop clawing at my papers. I never thought that the words "the cat ate my homework" would come out of my mouth, but they did…"

Miles laughed and shrugged off her hand. "So how long are we graced with your presence?"

"A while." Savannah replied. "I deferred for the semester to volunteer in the temp housing district. I figured it would be good to get a break from studying and get some first-hand experience."

Ah, of course. Although most of the South Carolina area had been repaired by now, there were still a few areas that were under-manned, and though initially the funding had been exorbitant, it had slowly trickled down until the only payments were from a collection of charities and anonymous donations that Miles knew Samantha and Guideline were putting through each month. It was enough to keep materials, food and medicine coming, but not enough to pay for staff and there had been a shortage of volunteers recently as the rich went back to their old lives and bank accounts and the working-class went back to rebuilding their lives. Miles made sure to visit after school when he could, but the most he could do was babysit the children as their parents worked on houses or cook (fairly mediocre) meals for the soup kitchen. Savannah could do good work there, since she was studying nursing. They may have had the medicine, but without someone to administer it there was no point, and occasionally they missed more serious illnesses that needed a hospital. It was hard work, but good work.

"Awesome. You'll do great there." He nodded. "Now I've gotta get upstairs and change. I smell like wet fish."

"I'm cooking tonight." Savannah said he jumped upstairs. He wasn't sure if it was a warning or not. If Savannah was cooking it was either going to be beautiful or incinerated. He made a mental note to check the saucepans.

* * *

The second Laura got to her car she felt her phone buzzing violently in her pocket. She pulled it out and answered.

"Hello?"

"Hey Laura, it's me." Came a familiar husky voice.

"Hey Rich! How are you?"

"Yeah. I'm good. I've got something important to tell you."  
No bones about it, that was Rich all right. Laura's hands instantly went for her temples. Rich's tone didn't sound good and she felt a rising anxiety in her chest. "Okay, shoot"

She heard a shuffling of papers over the other line. "Okay, so I've been investigating this new case. Suicide we think. We found the victim in his bathtub this morning. His name is Jason Greene. He had these weird ridges on his spine and some scars on his neck. Autopsy revealed that he had an abnormally large spinal cord, several unknown substances in his blood, and this..." he paused "...this stringy stuff growing in his neck. The Doc said it looked like he's swallowed a ton of burley. Nobody can figure out what it is, and the wife confirmed that he didn't have any noticeable physical abnormalities before she left two days ago. It's weird, you know?"

Laura felt a chill rush over her skin. "So you think it might be Iderdex?"  
"Maybe." Rich grumbled. "I don't think we should worry just yet though. That Granger couldn't have made enough money to experiment again, since Sam took over most of the pharmacies. I just wanted to let you know. Keep an eye out for anything suspicious and let me know if you see anything strange. But don't worry about it just yet okay?" he added hurriedly. "I don't want you to start panicking on me now."

_That's ironic coming from you._ Laura thought.

"Alright. I'll keep an eye on the water and see if anything odd is happening. I'll tell Miles when he comes in on the weekend. Keep me posted."

"I will." Rich said sombrely, then he hung up. Laura put the phone back in her pocket, turned on the engine and pulled out of the carpark, all the while trying not to panic. Rich was a policeman now, he would handle this, nothing was wrong, nothing was going to happen, all the people who were after her were gone.

Right?

* * *

Rich hung up the phone and began filing away his papers. The desk was completely covered with them. He'd been at the station since that morning, collecting information and trying to piece it all together. Coffee 'o' clock had long since come and gone, and he was wavering fast. Right on cue, the smell of bitter instant espresso reached his nostrils and he looked up to find his colleague Xavier kneeling in the doorway.  
"Rich, my man." He said with his usual suave smile. "I thought you might need a pick-me-up."

"Right on the ball, my friend." Rich smiled in appreciation. "Bring it over, I'm swamped here."

"I noticed." Xavier walked over and popped the steaming cup on his desk. "Listen Rich, i know you're real interested in this case, but you know I can't put you on it right?"  
Rich looked up at him in surprise. "What do you mean, can't put me on the case? I'm already on the case. I saw the guy, I ID'd him, I..."

"...am still a rookie." Xavier finished, perching on the edge of the desk. "Look, I know you want to get into the high priority cases, but we need the pros on this thing. It's not that you're bad at what you do, it's just that you don't know all the ins and outs of police work yet. You were only fast-tracked because of all that work you did with those critters. Don't get me wrong...you're a damn fine investigator. But if you get put on this case the higher ups are going to ask questions."

Rich frowned but didn't say anything. Xavier was right, of course. He was still the rookie in the force, and couldn't really do much beyond small assignments. At least, not legally, and now that he was in the law he didn't really have an urge to break it. Though he could probably think of ways. As he was daydreaming of databases he could search and loopholes he could abuse, Xavier hopped off the desk and began heading out of the office.

"I'll see what I can do." He said on his way out. "Worst case scenario, you don't make it on the team. Best, you get the paperwork."

"Better than nothing." Rich said optimistically. Xavier left and he took a sip of his coffee. Disgusting, but it would keep him awake until home time. He was about to re-shuffle his papers when Xavier reappeared at his door.

"Oh, there's someone outside to see you. Says it's urgent."

Rich sighed, then put down his papers and picked up his coffee. He wasn't too impressed about being pulled away from his work, but the only people he could think of that would be calling on him at work would be Tracey or Laura, and neither of them were to be ignored. However, when he stepped into the foyer, neither of them were there. There were a few people sitting on chairs, most of them disinterested. A couple of them were hiding under hooded jumpers.

"Did someone ask for Rich Connelly?" he called. One of the men stood up and pulled back the hood on his jumper.

There was a very, very long pause, and then the cup fell from Rich's hands and shattered on the floor, spilling coffee over his feet. He felt dizzy. His mind went blank and his throat went dry and he could feel his mouth moving but wasn't entirely sure if he said it out loud or not.

"...George?"


End file.
